Immigrant

Did the San Francisco City Council appoint to the Board of Elections someone who a social media post called an "illegal immigrant"? No, that's not true: The person who was appointed to a commission in San Francisco is a "legal immigrant," the president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors told Lead Stories. And the person was not appointed to…

Does a video on social media show immigrants in Canada "forced" to live near busy train tracks in Toronto? No, that's not true: This video was shot in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria, and gained traction online during February 2024. A Nigerian government official responded to this video, which showed traders selling goods alongside a track as a train rushes…

Was one of the Kansas City Chiefs parade shooters identified as 44-year-old Sahil Omar, an "illegal immigrant"? No, that's not true: As of this writing, law enforcement had not released the identities of three people detained in connection to the incident, nor had anyone been charged. News photos of a man detained after the shooting did not identify the man…

Do undocumented immigrants in the United States not pay taxes? No, that's not true: The claim made by Elon Musk on X that "illegals in America" do not pay taxes is "absolutely false," the deputy director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think tank, told Lead Stories. "Undocumented immigrants pay a range of taxes at every…

Did the Texas National Guard send tanks to its southern border in January 2024? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the Texas National Guard told Lead Stories they are not sending tanks to the border. Multiple posts made versions of the claim but there is no evidence to substantiate any of those posts. The claim appeared in a post…

Does a video seen on X show Azerbaijani politician Movsum Samadov on the border of the United States? No, that's not true: There is no evidence this man is Samadov or that this took place on the border of the U.S. Samadov denied that he was the man seen in the video when he spoke to Eastern Europe's Radio Liberty…

Was the mechanism of the background check conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to screen potential gun owners changed in a way that now allows undocumented residents to buy and possess guns in the United States? No, that's not true: On December 27, 2023, the bureau, abbreviated as the ATF, categorically denied such a change. The…

Did a bystander or cohort film a spontaneous incident when a Muslim immigrant urinated on packages of pork in a Dutch supermarket? No, that's not true: The video is staged and was posted by a TikTok creator. The same creator posted several prank videos showing a man, wearing the same clothing, pretending to urinate in inappropriate places. The video was…

Does a video from 2015 show Joe Biden pledging to open U.S. borders to "an unrelenting stream of immigration"? No, that's not true: The quote by then-Vice President Biden from a White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism was taken out of context. In reality, he was discussing America's experience as a melting pot of diverse peoples and highlighting how…

Is the U.S. government planning to order young women to enlist in the military? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, November 17, 2023, there is no plan afoot to draft women, a Defense Department spokesperson told Lead Stories. There is currently no draft -- there hasn't been since 1973 -- and the law requires that only men…